This is one of the most beautiful books I’ve read. Vuong is a poet, and his first novel reads almost as a thread of poems woven together to form one boy/man’s life. But it’s still highly readable as a narrative and the story is deeply human and viscerally real.

On Earth centers a young Vietnamese man, Little Dog, from an immigrant working-class family. Vuong masterfully adds layers upon layers to this story, interweaving themes of the immigrant experience, racism, intergenerational and immediate family trauma, and the opioid crisis in America. No one is left unscathed, but no one is left without joy and humanity. These are fully developed characters.

I’m glad I read this so close to Call Me By Your Name and Lie With Me, as it made me re-evaluate those two stories entirely. While this was an entirely different book in many ways, all three centered around a young man’s coming of age and sexuality. But suddenly it becomes so clear that CMBYN is a privileged tryst, a dream world for a perfect fantasy romance between white men. Lie With Me begins to touch on class divisions, but stops short of any deep meaning beyond the individual. I don’t want to diminish those books, but it’s valuable to remember what they are.

Vuong makes sex simultaneously scary, sensual, exciting and filthy. His depiction of coming into your sexuality as a gay teenager is much more true to reality. It’s a central part of Little Dog’s growth into manhood, and Vuong isn’t embarrassed to focus on it, but isn’t the only aspect that defines him. The masterful way he lays sex on top of, beside and inside the rest of this life is an example of what sets Vuong apart as a writer. I can only repeat the word “human” again.

I hope you’ll read this one. I learned and felt so much from it.

Cross-post from #bookstagram: @brianreadsbooks